The proposal has met all of the requirements for an IC. The course of study provides the student with the ability to meet their stated learning objectives; the IC has a cohesive narrative, course list, and capstone/thesis; the IC studies the field broadly and deeply in an area of focus; the student has strong advising support from faculty sponsor(s) and other advising networks; and the student has met full approval before the end of their 6th semester.

A proposal has nearly met all the above requirements; the student needs to address a few minor points or areas of concern; the proposal does not need to go back to the full committee.

Proposal has met some but not enough of the necessary requirements for provisional or full approval; if resubmitted, proposal will go back to the full committee.

Proposal needs significant rewrite, e.g.: narrative needs reframing and perhaps reconsidering, stated concentration lacks cohesion amongst the stated areas of study, student has not argued persuasively enough for its distinction from one of Brown's standard concentrations, course list does not align well with learning goals, it is unclear with courses are available at Brown for the intended field of study, faculty sponsor letter is insufficient; student is encouraged to workshop their proposal with a member of the Writing Center.

IC proposal cannot be completed at Brown (e.g., a field of study outside the scope of the liberal arts); the proposal is too similar to a standard concentration; the student was unable to achieve Provisional Approval by the end of their 6th semester. Even with this decision, a student can submit another fundamentally reconsidered proposal and must meet with IC Coordinators to discuss structural changes to the proposal.